Thursday, June 17, 2010

Starters vs. Relievers: National League

After looking yesterday at the American League, tonight I thought I'd take a look at how the starting pitchers and relief pitchers are doing in the National League so far:

2010 National League Auction Rosters: Starting Pitchers (74): 4,614 IP, 3,630 K, 273 W, 1 SV, 3.95 ERA, 1.345 WHIP, $707 earned, $729 spent.

2010 National League Auction Rosters: Relief Pitchers (43): 976 1/3 IP, 1,058 K, 70 W, 211 SV, 3.64 ERA, 1.297 WHIP, $380 earned, $302 spent.


Unlike in the American League, it's not even close here. The relief pitchers this year are kicking ass and taking names, while the starters are lagging behind.

The top performers in the N.L. can't be blamed; in fact, they're destroying their American League counterparts. While David Price was leading the pack yesterday with "only" $35 in earnings, four National League pitchers were on pace to earn $40 or more (Ubaldo Jimenez $51, Adam Wainwright $42, Josh Johnson $40, Roy Halladay $40).

Beyond the superior ERA/WHIP, N.L. relievers are winning a higher percentage of games. Auctioned relievers in the N.L. have accounted for slightly over 20% of the wins purchased in N.L. auctions, compared to a mere 13.7% in the A.L.

The men in the middle, though, are telling the story.

Only five true middle relievers in the A.L. - Dan Bard ($16), Brandon League ($13), Matt Thornton ($12), J.J. Putz ($12), and Frank Francisco ($11) - are on pace to save less than 10 games and earn in double-digits. There are 12 pitchers that fall in this category in the National League (Tyler Clippard, take a bow for what you've done so far).

The expert owners intuited this and, as a result, stopped bidding on starting pitching in the National League and started snatching up relievers. Yes, there are some middle relievers who take some big losses. But in the N.L., this is where the profit is.

At least this year, and at least so far.

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